Managing and Preserving California Desert Areas

Sen. Wilson's concern over the "lock out" of the California desert raises an interesting point. Opponents who decry the East Mojave as undeserving of national park status seem most eager to tour the area themselves.

But "access" is a multifaceted issue. In a very few years both the Sierra Club's foot soldiers and the four-wheel drive community will be supplanted by tens-of-thousands of vacationers who wish merely to visit the area and recreate accordingly. Who is to provide the level of interpretation, services and facilities--the "access"--to which the American public is accustomed?